


Christmas on Ice

by CelticGrace



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Christmas Fluff, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2017-12-13
Packaged: 2019-02-14 10:59:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13006368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CelticGrace/pseuds/CelticGrace
Summary: The first Christmas after the war, Kaidan teaches Shepard how to ice skate.





	Christmas on Ice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GoddessTiera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoddessTiera/gifts).



Shepard stood on the edge of the shore and watched in dubious fascination as Kaidan skated out and across the frozen pond behind his family’s orchard. When they’d made plans to visit his parents for Christmas, Kaidan had promised to teach her how to skate. She’d been fairly enthusiastic at the time, but now that they were here and she had the skates on, she was having second thoughts.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked as he skated back to her after an impressive display of his skills; for a man of Kaidan’s size, he was quite graceful on his feet. “Is it safe?”

He stood at the very edge of the ice, the toes of his skates touching the bank, and held a hand out to her. “Do you trust me?”

Of course she trusted him. They’d been through hell together, many times, and he’d always had her back. But this wasn’t trusting her XO in a battle situation. This was more terrifying than that. 

“It’s not a question of whether I trust  _ you _ ,” Shepard insisted as she took his hand and inched closer. “It’s… this is  _ ice _ , Kaidan. With near-freezing water underneath. And I’m not 100% steady on my feet yet. Throw ice into the mix and–”

“Hey, I’ve got you.” He gently tugged her hand until she’d taken her first steps onto the ice, and then he pulled her into his arms. “I promise.”

She laid her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes, and let herself forget the ice for a couple of minutes. Though he’d rarely left her side in the months she’d spent in the hospital after the end of the war, they’d had precious few moments entirely to themselves since she’d been released. Her physical therapy on top of demands from the Council, Alliance, and the media, had taken up just about every waking second between them.

But counting the Shadow Broker among their closest friends helped tremendously. With Liara running interference, they'd managed to slip away for a couple of weeks.

And now, they had the house, the entire orchard, for the week before Christmas while Kaidan’s parents went to Japan to visit family who couldn’t travel. 

Shepard was so caught up in Kaidan’s warmth, the feel of his arms wrapped snugly around her, that it took her a full twenty seconds after she opened her eyes again to realize they were moving. Her whole body stiffened as she watched the shore moving further away until they stood in the middle of the pond.

She lifted her head and stared at him with wide-eyed panic. “Um… couldn’t we have started a little closer to shore?”

He brushed a kiss against her forehead and adjusted their stance until they resembled middle schoolers at their first school dance, her arms on his shoulders, his hands on her waist. “In my defense, I’d intended to get to the other side of the pond before you noticed.”

“That’s your defense?” She rolled her eyes. “How reassuring. Now what?”

“Now I want you to take my hand.” 

“What?”

One hand slid up her side and down her arm to gently pry her hand from the vice-like grip she had on his shoulder. “Trust me.”

“I told you…”

“Would I have brought you out here if I wasn’t 100% positive the ice was solid?”

“No, but…” 

“Hey. We can go back, stop this altogether, if you don’t feel comfortable.”

She tried to shake her head, but wasn’t confident even that small movement wouldn’t send her flying across the ice. “No, I’m… I’m okay. I think.”

They stood still for a few more minutes, until Shepard’s heart stopped thundering like it was trying to escape her chest, and she loosened her death grip on Kaidan’s hand ever so slightly. 

He smiled and pressed his lips against hers for a moment. “Think you’re ready to move?”

She gave him a curt nod, the most she was willing to move her head at the moment.

Kaidan skated back a few inches, Shepard gliding unsteadily with him. “You’re doing great.”

She thought their definitions of ‘great’ differed, but didn’t disagree out loud. “Now what?”

“I’m going to skate backwards until our arms are outstretched, then you skate to me.” He squeezed her hands gently. “I’m not going to let go, okay?”

As he moved back, one of her knees locked while the other buckled and she wobbled, dangerously close to falling. They couldn’t have been more than five feet apart when Kaidan stopped, but to Shepard, it might as well have been a mile. 

“I don’t… I can’t do this.”

“Don’t move until you’re ready.”

Another five minutes passed before Shepard decided she was ready. Only she couldn’t move.

“You’re gonna have to pick up your feet.”

“Come again?” She gawked at Kaidan. “Pick up my feet? Do you  _ want _ me to fall?”

He shook his head. “You’re not gonna fall. I’ve got you.”

“Sure, but you’re all the way over there. Plenty of space in between for my face to meet the ice.”

“I can skate faster than you can fall.”

She narrowed her eyes. “You really willing to chance it?”

“Just pick up one foot and put it–” Where she was meant to put it, Shepard never found out, as Kaidan’s back foot slid out from under him and they both went tumbling to the ice. 

She groaned and rubbed her forehead where it had made forceful contact with the button on Kaidan’s jeans. “Now what, genius?”

He sounded winded when he finally replied, “Forget this for now and snuggle in front of the fire with spiked hot chocolate?”

“Good answer.”

* * *

Despite her initial reluctance and the disastrous end to their first day on the ice, by the time she woke the next morning, Shepard was eager to get back out and try again. Kaidan’s enthusiasm seemed to have waned a bit, due in large part to the ugly bruise that covered most of his back.

“Shall I remind you whose fault it is that you have that bruise?” She pointed at a bar stool with the spatula in her hand. “Now sit there and think up a new lesson plan while I finish breakfast.”

He gave her a cheeky grin and saluted her with his coffee mug. “Yes ma’am.”

She thought he might grow weary of playing teacher, especially given that she wanted to stay out as long as possible, but he proved to be very patient after the setbacks from the first day. She could just picture him teaching a child to ride a bike or ice skate, never letting go until they were ready. 

For her part, Shepard tried to master each lesson as quickly as she could. The more time she spent on the ice, the more her confidence soared; she hadn’t felt this exhilarated since the lessons she’d learned in N-school.

Their last day alone, Christmas Eve, Kaidan cancelled their lesson. Instead, they spent most of the day inside, wrapping presents and preparing the house for the elder Alenkos’ return. Shepard was glad of the break; fun as the week had been, she’d woken stiff and sore every morning from spending so much time in the cold. 

Still, she wondered what Kaidan was up to. Cancelling the lesson aside, he’d been acting nervous and evasive all day. Anytime she asked him what was going on, he’d hand her either one of the mountain of baked goods they’d made, or a cat–half a dozen roamed the property, wandering in and out of the house at their leisure. 

After he disappeared for a full hour while she was talking to her parents via vid-comm, she’d had enough and decided to confront him.

“Kaidan Alenko, what the hell has gotten into you today? I swear, you’d better start talking right now or–”

“Get your coat.” He gave her a mischievous smile and took her hand as he led her to the mud room. “And your skates.”

“You want to go skating now?? It’s almost midnight.” She glanced out the back door as she pulled on her coat. “And it’s snowing!”

He grinned. “That’s perfect.”

“Perfect for  _ what _ ?” 

“You’ll see.”

They walked in silence, huddled together against the cold, until Kaidan stopped suddenly just before they crested the hill above the pond.

“Close your eyes.”

Shepard blinked. “Why?”

“It’s a surprise. Just ‘til we reach the pond.”

He took her hands and she closed her eyes as he led her over the hill and down to the benches where they always put on their skates.

“Okay, you can open your eyes.”

Shepard opened her eyes and gasped as she looked out across the pond and saw electric candles set out in the middle in the shape of a heart. She glanced up at Kaidan, who was fidgeting and shifting back and forth on his feet. “What is all this?”

He said nothing, only sat beside her and put on his skates. She sat and stared at him for a few minutes before she followed suit.

He took her hand and led her out onto the ice and into the heart. “There’s so many ways I thought of doing this, and so many other times. Hell, I thought a few times about doing it at the hospital but you were so hopped up on pain pills, I didn’t know if you’d remember it afterwards. And I definitely wanted you to remember this.”

Shepard almost asked what he was doing before he suddenly dropped to one knee. “Oh. Oh my God. Kaidan…”

“I know we’ve been through some rough times, a  _ lot _ of rough times, actually. But I’ve always loved you. Might not have always shown it, or even knew how, but now…” He blew out a deep breath and took both her hands in his. “Jane Shepard, will you marry me?”

“Oh my… I mean, yes!” She pulled him up and threw her arms around his shoulders as she kissed him. “Of course! Yes!” 

“I have a ring,” he said when they finally pulled apart, “but I didn’t want you to have to take your gloves off, or risk losing it in the snow or…”

She shook her head and laughed. “I don’t care. This is perfect.” She quirked an eyebrow. “Did… did you teach me to skate just so you could propose?”

“Oh God, no. I mean, I’d planned to do it sometime this week, or at least during this vacation, but it was going to be inside somewhere. Like at breakfast or under the tree or… something.” He shrugged. “But then you really took to skating, after that first day anyway, and… voilá!”

“I’ll definitely never forget it.” She smiled and kissed him again. “I love you, so much.” 

“I love you too.” He grinned when his omni-tool beeped. “Merry Christmas, Jane.”

“Merry Christmas, Kaidan.” Shepard snuggled up against him as the wind picked up, whipping snow all around them. “Can we go inside now?”


End file.
